Twins on a small boat

[QC]

Re: Twins on a small boat

I thought that Yamaha offered the first counter rotaters in the early '80s. I think they all went the same way before that?

 

[Darren Smith]

Re: Twins on a small boat

Depending on the hull design (flat bottom or V) the rotation is not that important. I have 120's (bigger boat) that are not counter rotating, and other than being slightly harder to turn to port, it doesn't matter. just make sure if the motor has a trim tab (the little verticle one) to adjust it accordingly.<br /><br />Some motors do have different gearing in forward and reverse, but others are the same (Volvo comes to mind) one way is turn the motor by hand and check the prop rotation.<br /><br />I say if it is cost effective, get twins!

 

[AJ168]

Re: Twins on a small boat

CATransplant, if you know somebody in central or south Jersey that has two matching vintage engines in good shape...<br />Will not buy a used engine if I can't see it run and get to look it over before I do. Heard horror stories about eBay.

 

[danie]

Re: Twins on a small boat

Over here nobody will ever go to sea without a twin installation. A kicker is not even considered because two decent motors make good sense in all departments but fuel economy. The question however is do you want to compare the price of fuel with a life?<br />I absolutely agree with KnotAddicted, counter rotating is not an issue (below 150hp imo).<br />Go for the twins.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Twins on a small boat

AJ,<br /><br />Sorry, but I don't. I'd love to see a nice classic 16' boat, maybe a Larson, from the late 50's, though, with a pair of Johnson 35s from the same period. It would make a really nice-looking combination.<br /><br />The thing is, a guy could buy a couple of those, as long as they had really good compression, and go through the rest of both motors for much less than the cost of one brand new outboard. In fact, in a couple of months, I could probably come up with two matching, say 1958 RDS-20's (my favorite, for the cowl design), in great condition. Rebuild the magnetos and carbs, reseal the lower units, repaint the things, and go. Total cost would be under $1500 for both of them. There are tons of these things out there.<br /><br />Then, I'd paint the boat gold and cream to match the outboards and go boating. Now, that would turn some heads.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Twins on a small boat

Originally posted by BF:<br /> I have a 16' aluminum (rated for 35 hp) that I used to power with a 15 hp evinrude (tiller). When I wanted more HP, I was greatly intrigued by the possibility of putting another 15 hp on it and running twins. I have seen twin tillers run around a lake once or twice in my lifetime, but I've never seen how they were rigged. It's entirely possible they weren't rigged together at all... just driven independently by a guy with busy hands. <br /><br />I posted a Q on this forum about rigging twin tillers... how to link them to steer together (which I could imagine with some kind of tie rod thing to connect the existing steering holes), whether a kit was available etc. also whether there was a way (via cable?) to link the throttles together so they'd both function by twisting one grip....

Fished with a guide on the reef off the coast of Belize - in a wooden skiff maybe 18 or 20 ft, powered by a pair of 40 'rude tillers. he just stood there between the tillers, kind of leaning into the wind, with one handle in each hand - they weren't connected at all.